He Married Me to Protect Her

In three years of marriage, I had been punished by Frederick Ashton one hundred times.

Every single time was because I went to see my terminally ill brother, Marcus.

He said Marcus and I were having an affair, forcing me to kneel in the snow and locking me in the basement.

Until that night, when I walked to the bedroom door carrying a glass of warm milk, I found him in bed with his adopted sister, Felicity.

"I married Vivian just to cover up our relationship, didn't I?"

It turned out he'd known all along that Marcus and I were innocent.

He was simply using my suffering to protect the person he truly cherished.

The next day, I handed him divorce papers.

He had no idea I possessed evidence of his crimes.

Vivian's POV

I was only five minutes late coming home, yet my husband stripped me naked and forced me to kneel in the snow as punishment.

The cold wind cut through me like knives as I looked up at Frederick Ashton standing on the steps in his black coat, his gaze sharp as a blade.

"There's nothing between Marcus and me. Why won't you believe me?"

Frederick looked at me coldly, his eyes devoid of anger, only calm.

"Kneel here for twelve hours, and I'll believe you."

Kneeling in the snow at ten degrees below zero for twelve hours would kill me, or at least cripple me for life.

Yet I slowly straightened my body.

"Understood. I'll prove my innocence."

I'd always known Frederick had trust issues.

In three years of marriage, I'd endured ninety-nine punishments from him-slaps across the face, confinement in the basement... And today was the hundredth time.

Every single time was because I had visited Marcus.

Marcus, the brother who had raised me from childhood.

We weren't blood-related. Two children who'd grown up together, relying on each other. Marcus treated me as his little sister, and he was my only family. But Frederick still couldn't accept it.

He forbade me from calling Marcus my brother and forced me to cut off contact with him.

But Marcus was sick now. Terminal stomach cancer. He was only five years older than me, and when we were children, he'd rather starve himself than let me go without that last piece of bread. I couldn't abandon him.

The snowy ground was damp and freezing. I trembled from the cold.

Then I suddenly remembered I hadn't brought Frederick his nightly glass of warm milk yet.

After years of marriage, this habit was carved into my bones. Frederick had once held me close and said,

"Without milk, I can't sleep well at night."

Heating up a glass of milk and then coming back to kneel should be fine, right?

So I crawled out of the snow and went to the kitchen. But when I reached the bedroom door carrying the milk, I heard two voices coming from inside.

"Being able to hold you while I sleep, this is what I've dreamed of."

"Silly girl. Why do you think I married Vivian, if not for this?"

My heart clenched. I nearly dropped the glass of milk, then immediately clamped my hand over my mouth.

What did I just hear?

Frederick was actually sleeping in the same bed with his adopted sister, Felicity Ashton!

Just like Marcus and me, Felicity had been adopted by the Ashton family as a child and grew up with Frederick.

Frederick was incredibly indulgent toward his sister. Even after our marriage, he'd moved her into his villa, her room separated from ours by just a single wall.

I never could have imagined, even in my wildest nightmares, that Frederick and Felicity were involved!

I bit down hard on my lip. Then Felicity's voice came again from inside the room.

"What if Vivian discovers us someday?"

"She won't."

Frederick's voice was decisive.

"She's too busy proving her innocence with Marcus. She doesn't have time to pay attention to us."

"So you're deliberately making her suspicious?"

"Yes." Frederick gave a soft laugh.

"I've always known she and Marcus only have ordinary sibling affection. She's incredibly naive. I'm the only one in her heart. Otherwise she wouldn't have cried when I proposed... Besides, given how much she loves me, even if she found out, she'd never leave me."

I felt a metallic sweetness in my throat. My heart felt like it was being stabbed with needles, throbbing with pain.

Three years.

How many times had I knelt on the ground swearing that Marcus and I were innocent? Even when I stripped naked, Frederick only called me filthy.

And now I discovered he'd been doing it deliberately all along!

This was too much!

Too humiliating!

I left the villa and found the nearest law office to draft divorce papers.

Afterward, I went to the hospital.

Marcus's business partner and friend, Julian, was just leaving the hospital room. He looked surprised to see me.

"Vivian, didn't you just go home? Why are you back?"

"I'm worried about Marcus."

I sniffled and forced a smile.

"Julian, don't worry about me. I'll just sit here for a while."

"That won't do. The hallway's freezing. Here, take this."

Julian handed me a warm cup of coffee, accidentally touching my hand. He immediately frowned.

"Why are you so cold?"

Without another word, he took off his wool coat and draped it over my shoulders.

The sudden warmth made me unable to suppress the ache in my nose any longer. Tears broke through like a dam.

In this world, only Marcus cared about me. Only his friend would show me concern!

Julian looked flustered when he saw me cry.

I quickly wiped away my tears.

"Julian, can you help me investigate something?"

Vivian's POV

"As long as you stop crying, anything!"

What I wanted to know wasn't anything else-it was about Frederick and Felicity!

Four years ago, Marcus and I had barely managed to work our way through college.

To give me a better life, Marcus borrowed money from his friend Julian to start a business.

In just one year, Marcus became a rising star in the business world, and my life completely changed along with his.

At a gala, I met Frederick Ashton, heir to the Ashton family.

He fell in love with me at first sight. After three months of passionate pursuit, we got married.

Our married life seemed peaceful on the surface, but I knew almost nothing about Frederick's past!

Soon, Julian's investigation completely shattered my last shred of hope.

It turned out that after the Ashton family adopted Felicity, she and Frederick grew up together. As adults, they fell in love with each other. To be with Felicity, Frederick was even willing to defy his entire family.

After a year of deadlock, the Ashton family compromised, but with conditions.

Felicity could stay by Frederick's side, but could never be made public.

And Frederick had to marry a "suitable wife" within three months to maintain appearances.

And I was the carefully selected cover they chose.

How ironic. Frederick constantly accused me of impropriety with Marcus, yet the ones truly betraying our marriage were him and his "sister"!

I sat in the hospital corridor all night, occasionally dozing off, only to be jolted awake by nightmares.

In my dreams, I returned to the orphanage when I was five years old. A sweet-smiled girl led other children to isolate me, using razor blades to shred my clothes.

They surrounded me with mockery, calling me shameless. At the end of the dream, I heard them call her Felicity!

I frantically flipped through the documents Julian had given me. Sure enough, I found a small note in the corner:

Felicity, before being adopted by the Ashton family, came from Red Rose Orphanage.

I bit my lip hard.

So the person who bullied me as a child was Felicity. And the one who stole my husband as an adult was still her!

"Vivian."

A cold voice suddenly rang out.

It was Frederick.

He approached step by step, his face dark as he gripped my wrist.

"Come with me."

"I'm not going!"

I confronted him.

Frederick's eyes flashed dangerously, and his grip tightened, nearly crushing my bones!

Just then, the hospital room door opened. Marcus's pale, weak face appeared in the doorway.

"Vivian, what's wrong?"

Frederick lowered his voice threateningly.

"Are you sure you want me to punish you here?"

No... not in front of Marcus!

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Fine, I'll go with you."

His arm was like a steel clamp as he roughly dragged me and threw me into the restroom.

The next second, the faucet was turned on. Frederick grabbed the back of my neck and shoved my face violently into the water!

For a full seven minutes, I nearly suffocated.

He pulled me up, his voice cold as ice.

"This is for leaving without permission last night."

Then he shoved my head into the water again!

"This is for sneaking off to see your brother."

When he finally released me, I was soaked through, coughing violently from choking, yet I laughed.

"Frederick, why?"

His eyes darkened. "What did you say?"

"I said why can you see your sister whenever you want, but I can't see my brother? Who's the one with the real problem here?!"

Frederick seemed to freeze for a moment, his expression softening slightly.

But just then, a saccharine voice cut in.

"Vivian, you're getting bolder and bolder. How dare you speak to my brother that way?"

Felicity walked over gracefully and intimately linked her arm through Frederick's.

"The servants said she didn't even kneel for the required time last night. She completely ignored your orders!"

Her way of fanning the flames was exactly like when we were children.

In that moment, I finally confirmed that Felicity had recognized me long ago. She was doing this deliberately!

But before I could speak, Frederick's slap had already struck me hard!

Vivian's POV

I covered my burning face, tasting blood in my mouth, and collapsed to the ground, all strength leaving my body.

Frederick looked at me coldly, signaling two bodyguards to lift me up and roughly drag me toward his sports car.

A coarse hemp rope wrapped around my wrists as he said coldly,

"This is the price for running away last night. Run behind the car all the way back."

The engine roared and the sports car shot forward!

I stumbled a few steps before being dragged to the ground. The rough pavement scraped against my skin. I struggled desperately, but the car was going too fast-I couldn't stand up at all.

Suddenly, a hard brake!

Crack!

Sharp pain shot through my wrist as I screamed.

The car finally stopped. I thought he might soften, but Frederick only untied the rope and bound my other hand.

"A broken hand can be set. Pain teaches lessons."

He said it expressionlessly.

My heart died completely.

"So much sweat. Are you too hot?"

Felicity's sweet voice rang out.

"Frederick, why don't you have her take off a few layers?"

Before I could react, my coat was torn off, leaving my chest exposed to the freezing air!

I clutched my last piece of clothing desperately, my voice trembling.

"Frederick Ashton, must you humiliate me in public?"

Felicity was unconcerned.

"Don't worry, there's no one around in the suburbs."

I stared at Frederick.

He suddenly looked away.

"...Felicity, she is still my wife. If word gets out, it's the Ashton family's reputation that suffers."

Just as I held onto my last shred of hope, he turned back to me with a cold smile.

"Keep one piece to cover yourself. Remember, this is my mercy."

The engine roared again. I was dragged once more, my skin torn raw and bloody until I finally fell into darkness.

When I woke, I was lying in the villa's bed.

Frederick wasn't there. Only Felicity sat at the bedside peeling an apple.

She leaned close, her smile sweet.

"Can you do Frederick a favor?"

"What?"

She handed me a document.

"Just sign this and Frederick can secure that contract. You should know... who's more important, right?"

The moment I saw the contents, all the blood in my body froze. She wanted me to falsely accuse Marcus of long-term sexual assault against his own sister!

"Go to hell!!"

Rage consumed my reason. I lunged forward and grabbed her throat!

The door burst open. Frederick rushed in, yanked me away, and slammed me to the floor!

"You bitch! How dare you touch Felicity?!"

Felicity burst into tears.

"I only asked her to sign, and she..."

"Hold down her hand," Frederick commanded coldly. "Make her sign it!"

"No! You can't!!"

The servants pinned me down as the pen scratched across paper-a sound like a knife cutting. I screamed in collapse.

"Frederick Ashton! I want a divorce!!"

But no one listened. Felicity suddenly vomited blood and fainted. Frederick panicked and scooped her up.

"Felicity!"

"The apple..." she said weakly, pointing toward the bedside table.

"From her room..."

Vivian's POV

I was thrown into the basement.

Pitch darkness surrounded me. The damp air made my wounds throb with dull pain.

The door opened. Frederick stood before me, looking down from above.

"Hand over the antidote."

I moved my broken fingers.

"I told you, I didn't poison anyone. What antidote?"

He crouched down and grabbed my chin viciously.

"Vivian, you've been defying me lately. Is it because of your brother?"

Before he finished speaking, his iPad lit up with a video-

In a familiar hospital room, Marcus was being held down by men in black, coughing violently, blood staining his blue hospital gown.

On his right side, an opened bottle of poison sat quietly.

I immediately began to struggle.

"Frederick Ashton! What right do you have to touch Marcus? He's my last living relative!"

"Because you touched Felicity!"

His eyes were ice-cold and piercing.

"Anyone who touches her must die."

He leaned in close.

"Will you obediently hand over the antidote, or let Marcus drink that bottle?"

Marcus had stomach cancer. Drinking that would be a death sentence.

I finally stopped struggling.

"...Let him go, and I'll give you the antidote."

Frederick turned off the video with satisfaction.

I slowly stood up.

"I don't have an antidote, but I can pay with my life."

With that, I grabbed scissors and stabbed them toward my heart!

In the last second before darkness fell, I saw Frederick rush toward me in horror, my body falling into a trembling embrace.

"Vivian!"

I heard people talking near my ear.

"I'm sorry... I just had food poisoning, but I wrongly accused her of poisoning me..."

"Food poisoning makes you vomit blood?"

"I don't know either... maybe I was injured somewhere?"

Felicity's voice choked up.

"Are you blaming me? She could have explained herself..."

"I don't blame you." Frederick frowned.

"She deliberately opposed me."

"Don't blame her anymore." Felicity took his hand.

"Go rest. I'll take care of her."

"Alright."

I woke again two days later.

I threw back the covers, ready to get out of bed. This wasn't my home. I had to leave.

But Felicity blocked my way.

"Vivian, I'm sorry!"

I pushed past her and kept walking. Would someone like her ever repent? I didn't believe it.

But the next second, her words pinned me in place like nails-

"Marcus is dead!"

She put on a regretful expression.

"That day Frederick ordered them to release him, but unfortunately... after the news about Marcus molesting you spread, reporters stormed the hospital. In the chaos, someone forced the drug down his throat."

She waved her phone.

"He only managed to leave you a few words before he died. There wasn't even time to try to save him."

She added cheerfully,

"But he had terminal stomach cancer anyway. He was going to die sooner or later. Don't be too sad."

All strength instantly drained from my body.

Marcus, who had been so spirited just months ago, was now emaciated and being held down.

"Vivian, I'm sorry for dragging you down... From now on, even without someone to love you, you must love yourself well."

He smiled as he closed his eyes. Even as the poison burned through his organs, he didn't cry out in pain once.

I played the video on loop, tears splattering on the ground. I knelt there trembling.

"I'm the one who dragged you down... It's always been me dragging you down..."

"That's right, he didn't have to die."

Felicity suddenly agreed.

"So strange. I was the prettiest of all those kids at the orphanage, yet the family chose you."

She lowered her voice.

"Do you know why the car that came to take you home had brake failure? That was the price for them abandoning me."

That year, a family came to the orphanage to adopt. They had originally chosen Felicity.

But just as they were leaving, the mother noticed me in the corner and changed her mind at the last minute.

On the return trip, the brakes failed. The car crashed into a fuel tanker and burst into flames.

Marcus and I climbed out the window, but our parents were burned alive inside.

It turned out... it was never an accident!

My hands trembled. Hatred gnawed at my nerves. I wanted nothing more than to drag her down to hell with me right then!

I forwarded the video to my own phone and slapped her hard across the face.

"Felicity, I will make you pay."

Vivian's POV

I was about to step out of the villa when a cold voice suddenly came from behind.

"Stop."

I turned around to see Frederick with his arm around Felicity, his fingers gently stroking her cheek, though his gaze fell coldly on me.

No need to guess-Felicity must have complained to him.

I straightened my spine.

"What, here to get even for her? Will you slap me, or make me kneel?"

"About your brother, I'm very sorry."

Frederick stared at my pale face, a flash of complicated emotion in his eyes.

"But don't worry, I'll personally hold a memorial service for him and let him be buried with dignity."

I laughed mockingly.

What was this? A slap followed by candy, and everything's supposed to be fine?

Seeing my silence, Frederick seemed to lose patience, coldly dropping one line.

"The internet is in an uproar over your brother's case right now. Don't go out alone. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you and Felicity to the memorial together."

I believed him.

But the next day, I waited from eight in the morning until eleven-and never saw a trace of Frederick!

In the end, I had to take a taxi there myself.

When I arrived, I discovered the memorial hall was completely empty!

This was his idea of a "dignified burial"?

I smiled bitterly. I should have known better than to hold any expectations of him.

The eulogy, the moment of silence, kowtowing... I completed every ritual alone.

The urn was small, yet holding it felt unbearably heavy, crushing me until I couldn't breathe.

Just as the burial was about to begin, the sound of deafening fireworks suddenly erupted outside.

Felicity pushed open the doors and announced loudly to a crowd of reporters,

"This is Marcus's memorial service. Everyone's welcome to pay their respects!"

My heart sank. Before I could react, I was surrounded by a swarm of reporters, countless cameras aimed at my face.

"Miss Vivian, Marcus molested you. Why are you still attending his memorial?"

"How long did he molest you? When did it start?"

"Miss Vivian, don't you hate Marcus? Or were you a willing participant?"

My lips trembled. I couldn't get a single word out.

Marcus was already dead... How could I let him bear such slander even after death?

"Enough!"

I shouted, cutting them off. I pushed through the reporters and grabbed Felicity by the arm.

"My brother never molested me! He was innocent! Felicity Ashton forced me to sign that complaint. Everything was her doing!!"

Before I could finish, the belatedly arriving Frederick kicked me in the chest, violently cutting me off.

"Gentlemen, today's events have nothing to do with my sister."

He swept a cold glance across the reporters.

"As for the rest, do as you please."

I slammed heavily into the coffin, the urn hitting the ground, ashes scattering everywhere!

I screamed hoarsely, ignoring the sharp pain in my chest, desperately trying to gather those ashes.

But the reporters paid no attention. Their feet trampled through the ashes, crushing them without care.

"Mr. Ashton truly dotes on his sister!"

"Having a brother like that must be wonderful! Now look at Marcus-a good person on the surface, but molesting his own sister behind closed doors. Absolute scum!"

"Vivian, you have a husband like Mr. Ashton and you don't cherish him. Instead you have an affair with your brother behind his back. Absolutely shameless!"

Their words were like knives, carving into my heart one by one.

I looked up at Frederick, only to see him holding Felicity tenderly, asking in a low voice if she was hurt.

He was indeed a good brother.

But he didn't deserve to be my husband.

Blood dripped onto the ground, mixing with the ashes.

I finally couldn't hold on. My vision went black and I passed out.

Before losing consciousness, I seemed to hear Frederick's panicked roar.

"Get away! If anything happens to my wife, none of you will escape!"

Was he... actually worried about me?